Philosophy, Russell argues, is concerned with the universe as a whole. He reveals how the world in which we seem to live differs from reality and makes clear how scientific advance has transformed our concept of the world. The text illuminates the ways in which we are capable of knowledge and discovering natural laws with a discussion of perception, memory, learning in infants and animals and linguistic ability. He moves on to a study of the physical world and then to a disucssion of humanity as it sees itself.